Multi-material golf clubhead

ABSTRACT

A golf club head in accordance with various aspects of the present invention, may have a higher volume and/or higher strength. The golf club head may also comprise a variously configured and/or detachable face, allowing various faces of differing materials to be attached to the body. A detachable face further allows the head to be tuned via placement/rearrangement of weights within the head to change the center of gravity and moment of inertia.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a Continuation-In-Part application whichclaims priority to U.S. Continuation patent application Ser. No.11/969,693 entitled “Multi-Material Golf Club Head,” filed Jan. 4, 2008,which claims priority to U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser.No. 10/712,401 entitled “Multi-Material Golf Club Head,” filed Nov. 12,2003, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser.No. 60/425,244 entitled “Multi-Material Hybrid Golf Club HeadDesign/Construction,” filed Nov. 12, 2002, which are incorporated hereinby reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to golf club heads having faces of variousconfigurations and various mechanisms for changing golf club headcharacteristics.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Current high-performance golf club heads are often manufactured fromvarious metal and/or graphite structures and combinations of these andother materials. In attempts to maintain low weight, while having largevolumes, in the case of drivers (commonly referred to as “woods”), theheads are often made of materials such titanium, steel or graphitecomposites.

Many performance characteristics are desirable in the case of driverheads, including size, strength, mass distribution/inertia propertiesand the sounds they make. For example, generally, as the size of theheads increases (many approaching 500 cc), the heads tend to be more“forgiving” for off-center hits.

Further still, more and more, golfers seek club heads with specificcenters of gravity locations and moments of inertia to control drivecharacteristics. Further yet, golfers increasingly seek to changecertain objective and subjective characteristics such as contact timebetween the face of the club and the ball and the sound and/or acousticprofile made upon impact between the club head and the ball. Forexample, some golfers prefer the hollow “ping” sound of a titaniumdriver, while others prefer the “dead” or solid sound of a compositehead (more like a traditional wood driver).

Club designers attempt to use these various performance attributes totune or enhance certain characteristics of club performance. However,conventional metal design/construction methods are limited by basicproperties (e.g., stiffness, strength and density) of the materials usedas well as by manufacturing limitations (e.g., casting, welding andforming).

Thus, while the above-mentioned attributes are sought, many remainunrealized. Improved heads which can vary stiffness and strength areasredistribute total weight allowing control of the location of center ofgravity and moment of inertia and/or are made of lighter and strongermaterials, allowing bigger club heads with correspondingly larger“sweet” spots. Further still, clubs which provide “tunable” centers ofgravity and moments of inertia are also desirable. Additionally, facesmay be made more flexible (“hotter”) or less flexible (“colder”) toincrease or decrease contact time. Such clubs may be further capable ofproducing varying impact sounds, and are therefore desirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

While the way that the present invention addresses the disadvantages ofthe prior art is discussed in greater detail below, in general, thepresent invention provides an improved golf club head. For example, agolf club head in accordance with various aspects of the presentinvention, may be manufactured with an ability to add additional weightto specific locations on the clubs, thereby allowing the weight, centerof gravity, and moment of inertia to be controlled/adjusted.

In some embodiments, the golf club head also may have a detachable face,allowing various faces of differing materials and configurations to beattached to one body and/or providing access to an interior of the golfclub head. A detachable face further allows the head to be tuned viaaddition/placement/rearrangement of weights within the head to changethe center of gravity and moment of inertia as well as sound. In variousembodiments, weights within the golf club head may also be positionedvia mechanisms on internal and/or external surfaces of the golf clubhead at least partially eliminating the need to “open” the golf clubhead (e.g., via the detachable face). Further yet, by tuning the weightand the face, the sound and/or acoustic profile of the golf club head(e.g., when striking a golf ball) may likewise be changed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present invention may be derived byreferring to the detailed description when considered in connection withthe Figures, where like reference numbers refer to similar elementsthroughout the Figures, and:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a body structure of a golf club head inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a faceplate in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another faceplate in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another faceplate in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another faceplate in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a faceplate attached to a clubstructure in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a faceplate attached to a clubstructure in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a faceplate attached to a clubstructure in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a club structure with a damping material inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a club structure with a damping material inaccordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is of exemplary embodiments of the inventiononly, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability orconfiguration of the invention in any way. Rather, the followingdescription is intended to provide a convenient illustration forimplementing various embodiments of the invention. As will becomeapparent, various changes may be made in the function and arrangement ofthe elements described in these embodiments without departing from thescope of the invention as set forth herein. For example, though variousportions of the specification refer to particular materials used inconnection with golf club heads, numerous other materials, now known oras yet unknown, having desirable properties should be considered withinthe scope of the present invention.

Additionally, briefly, each and every process for manufacturing hollowitems from various materials is not explained herein, however, oneskilled in the relevant art will appreciate that various conventionalgolf club forming techniques may be used in accordance with the presentinvention.

That being said, in accordance with various aspects of the presentinvention and with reference to the exemplary embodiment illustrated inFIG. 1, the present invention comprises a golf club head 100 having abody structure and a faceplate 140. As described in more detail belowwith respect to various exemplary embodiments, faceplate 140 may beconfigured from a variety of materials and may have a number ofconfigurations for changing the properties of club head 100.Additionally, as described further below, club head 100 may be hollow,allowing the variable positioning of tuning weights 200 within club head100 to suitably adjust performance characteristics (such as the locationof the center of gravity and moment of inertia) of club 100 as well aschange the sound of club 100 via damping the structural elements of club100.

In accordance the present invention with to FIG. 1, faceplate 140 is asurface which is intended to make contact with the golf ball during use,transferring energy of the swing to the ball. Faceplate 140 comprisesany of numerous materials, such as steel or titanium, but may comprisemany other materials, now known or as yet unknown, depending ondesirable properties, such as the desired weight and flexure properties.

As noted above, faceplate 140 may also have a various shapes andconfigurations. For example, with reference to FIG. 2, faceplate 140 mayhave a generally uniform thickness. Alternatively, faceplate 140 may bethinner on an inside, center portion of faceplate 140. For example, asillustrated in FIG. 3, faceplate 140 may have a “depressed” area 142 onthe inside surface of faceplate 140. The depressed areas 142 leavesfaceplate 140 having a gradually thinner cross section towards thebottom of the depression. Because faceplate 140 becomes thinner, it ispossible to design faceplate 140 to have more flexure, and therebyincrease contact time with a golf ball. Similarly, springcharacteristics of faceplate 140 may be changed based on thethickness(es) used.

Additionally, in various embodiments, the depressed area may contain afiller material 144 which is added to the inside surface to fill outfaceplate 140. Filler material 144 may generally be any material such ascomposites, epoxies, elastomers, or the like, and are generally dictatedby desired properties, such as to change the acoustic profile of clubhead 100 or to reduce or otherwise change flexure properties.

Various other configurations of faceplate 140 may have varyingcross-sections on an inside, center portion. For example, as illustratedin FIG. 4, faceplate 140 comprises an “undulating” cross-section. Statedotherwise, faceplate 140 has one or more depressed areas 142 on theinside surface of faceplate 140, but also has at least one higher area146, for example, generally centrally located within depressed area 142.Again, as described above, this embodiment may also have filler material144 in depressed area 142, and may also cover higher area 146.

In another embodiment, faceplate 140 comprises a progressively steppeddown depressed area. For example, with reference to FIG. 5, depressedarea comprises a series of steps 142 a, 142 b, 142 c, etc. culminatingin a thinnest thickness of faceplate 140 at a bottom of the depression.As with the embodiments described above, a filler material may be addedto the depression. Likewise, stepped depression 142 a, 142 b, 142 c,etc. may undulate, that is, they may step down and then up again,similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4.

In general, one skilled in the art will appreciate that, in accordancewith the present invention, faceplate 140 may be configured in many waysfrom many materials and thus, particularly in embodiments wherefaceplate 140 is releasably attachable, allow for “tuning” theproperties of club head 100 by virtue of selecting different faceplates140.

In this regard, in accordance with various non-limiting embodiments ofthe present invention, faceplate 140 may be suitably detachable frombody structure 110. For example, referring back to FIG. 1, in oneembodiment, body frame structure 122 comprises a faceplate aperture 128having a perimeter 142 substantially contiguous with the perimeter offaceplate 140. Thus, when faceplate 140 is attached to body structure110, faceplate 140 and body structure 110 integrate substantiallyseamlessly.

Additionally, in accordance with various alternative aspects of thepresent invention, body structure 110 may be permanently bonded withfaceplate 140 through a now known or as yet unknown welding processes,and preferably, using a coolant system and/or heat sinks such as athermal putty (e.g., Bloc-It® available from LA-CO Industries,Inc./Markal Company) or other coolant system such as welding in a liquidbath (e.g., oil, water or the like).

As mentioned above, in various embodiments of the present invention,body structure 110 further comprises mechanisms for facilitatingreleasable attachment of faceplate 140 to body structure 110. Forexample, with reference back to FIG. 1, body structure 110 may comprisea faceplate receiving ridge 144 upon which faceplate 140 is retained. Insuch embodiments, receiving ridge suitably comprises a recessed “lip” orseries of “tabs” (not shown) which prevents faceplate 140 from passingcompletely within body structure 110, and, moreover may suitably assistin maintaining a striking surface 146 of faceplate 140 contiguous withan outer surface of body structure 110. Moreover, in embodiments using areleasably attachable faceplate 140, no thermal protection is needed asno welding is required.

In still further embodiments, receiving ridge 144 further facilitatesattachment of faceplate 140 to body structure 110. For example,receiving ridge 144 may further comprise mounting mechanisms forattaching and detaching faceplate 140. For example, mounting mechanismsmay comprise body holes 148 in body structure 110, faceplate holes 150in faceplate 140, and screw 149 combinations or other similar fasteningdevices connect faceplate 140 to body structure 110 via correspondingfaceplate holes 150.

In accordance with various alternative embodiments, any number of otherconfigurations for facilitating releasable attachment of faceplate 140to body structure 110 may be used. For example, with reference now toFIG. 6, body structure 110 again comprises faceplate receiving ridge 144upon which faceplate 140 is retained by one or more body holes 148,faceplate holes 150 and screw 149 combinations. Optionally, variouswashers (not shown) may likewise be employed. In various embodimentsbody holes 148 and faceplate holes 150 may be configured in club head100 (e.g., body structure 110 and/or faceplate holes 150) by anyconventional or unconventional means, such as during casting and/orsubsequent machining or EDM.

In still another embodiment, faceplate 140 may be attached by alaterally extending screw 151. In this regard, a screw 151 extends fromone side of club structure 110, into the inner volume of club head 100,and attaches to faceplate 140. In various embodiments, screw 151 mayenter from various sides of club structure 110, though in an exemplaryembodiment such as illustrated in FIG. 7, screw 151 enters through theback of club head 100. Optionally, a built-up area 152 on club structure110, which may or may not be threaded, may likewise included forpurposes of reinforcement, screw/fastener guidance and/or to adjust thecenter of gravity of club head 100. In this embodiment, screw 151attaches to a rear side of faceplate 140, for example, by threads, pressfit, adhesive, or other attachment mechanism. Similar to built-up area152, faceplate 140 may optionally comprise another built-up area 153,for similar purposes of reinforcement, screw/fastener guidance and/or toadjust the center of gravity of club head 100.

In yet another embodiment such as illustrated in FIG. 8, faceplate 140may be attached to club structure 110 via a key mechanism 160. Keymechanism 160 suitably allows a tool to interact with an engagementportion 161, for example, through a key hole 162, allowing one moreengagement bolts 163 to be retracted or extended into body structure110, for securing faceplate 140 to body structure 110. For example, inthe illustrated embodiment, faceplate 140 is located in faceplateaperture 128, and by inserting the noted tool (e.g., a key), androtating, engagement bolts 163 extend into engagement slots 164 in clubstructure 110, securing or releasing faceplate 140 from club head 100.

Though not illustrated, one skilled in the art will appreciate that anynumber of screw combinations similar to that illustrated in FIGS. 6, 7,8 and others may be used in accordance with the present invention.Likewise, the various embodiments described herein may be used invarious combinations.

In various exemplary embodiments, tuning, damping or “intermittent”materials may be located on various portions of club head 100 to impartor change various characteristics of club head 100. Damping materialsmay be any material which changes the damping properties of club head100. For example, various elastomers, rubbers, plastics, and the likemay be used. Such materials absorb energy and damp vibration, which caneffect club feel, sound, and performance. Alternatively, more rigidmaterials may be used as the “intermittent” material. For example,metals or ceramics may be used to effect club feel, sound, andperformance.

Still further, various visco-elastic materials may be used as tuninginserts in connection with the present invention such as damping or“intermittent” materials. Visco-elastic materials are generally thosematerials characterized by having both elastic and viscous behaviors.For example, elastic materials store and release all or nearly all ofthe energy during loading, while a viscous material is opposite ofelastic materials and returns little or no energy from the loading.

Tuning inserts in the form of damping materials discussed herein may besituated between club structure 110 and faceplate 140. In oneembodiment, for example as illustrated in FIG. 9, damping materials area series of individual damping pieces 145, for example, located onreceiving ridge 144. Alternatively, damping material may be a singleunitary washer-like structure 145 such as illustrated in FIG. 10.

Additionally, as noted above, club heads 100 in accordance with thepresent invention, allow inertia properties can be improved, positivelyimpacting performance by repositioning weight inside the head body toalter the location of center of gravity and/or inertia values to helpimprove trajectory (CG) or forgiveness on off-center hits (inertiaproperties) or it can be allocated to an adjustable secondary center ofgravity/sound type tuning insert(s)/mechanism(s).

For example, tuning inserts in the form of tuning weights 200 can bepositioned within club 100 to change such characteristics. For example,experienced golfers may wish to move the center of gravity of club 100higher up the club, and more toward the crown of the club to reducebackspin, while less experienced golfers may prefer the opposite. Tuningweights may be positioned within club head 200 in any number of mannersnow known or as yet unknown, preferably using access through faceplateaperture 128.

For example, with reference to FIG. 1, a weight retaining stud 132 isillustrated. It should be appreciated that numerous weight retainingstuds may be placed in various locations in club head 100, providing theability to not only adjust gross weight, bust also center of gravitylocation and moment of inertia. For purposes of illustration, however,only one stud 132 is shown. Weight retaining stud 132 is configured toallow a weight 134 to be attached. For example, in the presentlydescribed embodiment, weight 134 is a rubber, “washer-like” pieceweighing approximately 30 g which is attached to stud 132 with a typicalmachine screw, bringing the total weight of club head 100 to the “ideal”weight of about 200 g, with a center of gravity in a desired locationand/or a desired moment of inertia.

Further still the use of weights and/or damping materials attached toclub head 100 suitably provides sound changing effects. For example, aweight attached to club head 100 may suitably provided a more “solid”sound when club head 100 strikes the ball, giving the impression clubhead 100 is not substantially hollow. Additionally, other materials maybe added to the interior of club head 100 to achieve similar soundchanging results. For example, club head 100 may contain some fillermaterial such as fiberglass, silicone, rubber or other materials.

Thus, in addition to the tangible “objective” benefits of this newdesign/construction golf head (such as improved inertia/CGproperties/magnification capabilities), several more “subjective”benefits exist as well. In addition to the ability to tune the soundcharacteristics by changing the type/location of materials and/ordampers, the aesthetic elements can also now be optimized.

Finally, it should be appreciated that the present invention has beendescribed above with reference to various exemplary embodiments.However, many changes, combinations and modifications may be made to theexemplary embodiments without departing from the scope of the presentinvention. For example, the various components may be implemented inalternate ways. These alternatives can be suitably selected dependingupon the particular application or in consideration of any number offactors associated with the operation of the system. In addition, thetechniques described herein may be extended or modified for use withother types of devices. These and other changes or modifications areintended to be included within the scope of the present invention.

1. A golf club head, comprising: a body structure; and a faceplate; andwherein said body structure having a faceplate aperture furthercomprising a perimeter substantially coincident with said faceplate,said faceplate aperture further comprising a faceplate receiving ridgeupon which said faceplate is retained on said body frame structure and atuning insert therebetween.
 2. A golf club head in accordance with claim1, further comprising a fastening mechanism for fastening said faceplateto said body structure.
 3. A golf club head in accordance with claim 2,wherein said fastening mechanism comprises removable and re-attachablefasteners.
 4. A golf club head in accordance with claim 2, wherein saidfastening mechanism is a laterally extending screw.
 5. A golf club headin accordance with claim 2, wherein said fastening mechanism is a keymechanism.
 6. A golf club head in accordance with claim 1, wherein saidtuning insert comprises a damping mechanism.
 7. A golf club head inaccordance with claim 1, further comprising a tuning weight attached toan interior surface of said body structure.
 8. A golf club head inaccordance with claim 7, wherein said tuning weight provides for anadjustable center of gravity.
 9. A golf club head in accordance withclaim 7, wherein said tuning weight provides for an adjustable moment ofinertia.
 10. A golf club head in accordance with claim 1, wherein saidfaceplate has a centrally located depression.
 11. A golf club head inaccordance with claim 1, wherein said faceplate has an undulatingdepression.
 12. A golf club head in accordance with claim 1, whereinsaid faceplate has a stepped depression.
 13. A golf club head inaccordance with claim 1, wherein said faceplate has a predeterminedacoustic profile.
 14. A golf club head, comprising: a body structurehaving a faceplate aperture; a faceplate with a varying thickness; afastening mechanism for fastening said faceplate to said body structure;and wherein said faceplate aperture further comprising a faceplatereceiving area upon which said faceplate is retained on said body framestructure and a tuning insert between said body structure and saidfaceplate.
 15. A golf club head in accordance with claim 14, whereinsaid fastening mechanism comprises removable and re-attachablefasteners.
 16. A golf club head in accordance with claim 14, whereinsaid fastening mechanism is a laterally extending screw.
 17. A golf clubhead in accordance with claim 14, wherein said fastening mechanism is akey mechanism.
 18. A golf club head in accordance with claim 14, furthercomprising a tuning weight attached to an interior surface of said bodystructure.
 19. A golf club head in accordance with claim 14, whereinsaid tuning insert comprises a damping mechanism.
 20. A golf club headin accordance with claim 14, wherein said faceplate has at least one ofa centrally located depression, an undulating depression, and a steppeddepression.
 21. A golf club head in accordance with claim 14, whereinsaid faceplate has a predetermined acoustic profile.
 22. A golf clubhead, comprising: a body structure having a faceplate aperture; a tuningweight inside the golf club head; a faceplate with at least one of acentrally located depression, an undulating depression, and a steppeddepression; and removable and re-attachable fasteners for fastening saidfaceplate to said body structure; and wherein said faceplate aperturefurther comprising a faceplate receiving area upon which said faceplateis retained on said body frame structure and a tuning insert betweensaid body structure and said faceplate.